Coupons.com Surging More Than 90% In Stock Market Debut

Investors hoping to grab a discount on shares of Coupons.com may have missed their chance: shares of the coupon site have popped more than 90% and still rising on the company's very first day on the market. Those who snapped up shares during Coupons.com's pre-IPO roadshow, on the other hand, are likely celebrating what is now looking like one of the best steals of 2014 thus far.

Founded in 1998, Coupons.com calls itself the leader in digital coupons and estimates that it powered more than 1.3 billion coupon transactions in 2013 alone. The company filed for an IPO at the end of January, and at that time provided a price range of $12 to $14 per share. Thursday night, Coupons.com announced that it had raised $168 million in its roadshow and would be offering 10,500,000 shares of stock to the public at a price of $16 per share.

After opening for trading at $16 a little after 10:00am ET Friday morning, Coupons.com shares immediately popped, first in the 80% range and crossing the 90% mark before noon. Shares of Coupons.com are currently trading for $31.22, or a 95.12% gain.

The stock is listed on the New York Stock exchange under the ticker COUP, a name that some market experts have joked is apt because the stock's performance in its first day on the market has been a bit of coup. And indeed, despite consumers' love for coupons, investors have good reason to be wary of Coupons.com's underlying financials. According to the S-1 it filed with the SEC, its annual revenue has grown consistently since 2011 (reporting $92.3 million in 2011, $112.1 million in 2012 and $167.9 in 2013), but its profit has not: on the contrary, Coupons.com has reported a net loss every year since 2011, posting losses of $23 million in 2011, $59 million in 2012 and $11 million in 2013.

If shares of Coupons.com maintain their near 100% pop, the company's IPO will rank among the top IPOs of 2014 thus far -- but it will not be the biggest opening day pop. That honor goes to Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, which opened for trading on January 29 and finished the day with a 206.7% gain. However, this is already a more successful debut for Coupons.com than its competitor RetailMeNot: The Austin-based coupon and discount site IPO'ed in July of 2013, saw an initial pop of 30% and went on to close its first day on the market with a 32% return against its $21 per-share offering price. The stock is up 55% since its IPO.

Despite Coupons.com's opening day success, shares of its competitors are relatively unaffected: RetailMeNot is trading for a 1.98% gain, while Groupon was trading for a modest gain in the morning and is currently 0.35% down.